Many residences and offices have some form of heating and air conditioning system. These systems generally have duct work fluidically connecting a fan unit with the remainder of the building. This duct work can be formed of several standard sizes, yet may vary in size slightly from one system to another.
Nearly every heating and air conditioning system requires some sort of filter assembly to ensure that the air directed to the building is free of dust and other contaminants. These filters are generally slipped into the duct work near the fan unit.
As the filter assemblies operates, they become fouled and must be cleaned or replaced on a periodic basis. This requires removing the filter assembly, inspecting it to determine if it can be cleaned or if it must be replaced.
Due to the varying size of duct work associated with many buildings, the people in charge of the heating and air conditioning system may often be required to order or store special filter assemblies that are adapted to the exact size of their special heating and air conditioning duct work. This may require the ordering of special filters, modifying and customizing of off-the-shelf filter assemblies. In turn, this may require a supplier to stock special filter assemblies for the special needs of a certain customer.
Therefore, the need or desire to use a filter assembly that exactly fits the special heating and air conditioning system duct work may result in added expense for either the building owner or the supplier, or both. In some instances, the special customizing may make servicing difficult and expensive.
Therefore, there is a need for a filter assembly that can be used in a heating and air conditioning system that can be easily and efficiently modified to meet the exact needs of a particular system. Further, there is a need for such a filter assembly that can be easily stored, installed, removed, serviced and replaced.